Marauders, Hillbillies compete at WNY Relays indoor track meet

HOUGHTON — The Dunkirk/Silver Creek and Fredonia indoor track teams participated in the WNY Relays meet at Houghton College on Saturday. Both teams saw great team and individual successes, including personal bests and school records.

In the boys relays, Fredonia saw the team of Andrew Kennedy, Rian Budzinski, Kevin Redfield and Jack Carlson place second in the Sprint Medley Relay with a time of 3:54.62. The Marauders’ 4x200m relay team of Jonah Rosas, Nelson Rosario, Devin Eddy and Miracle Berakah took third in 1:38.81. Rosas, Berakah and Rosario then came back with Anthony Ruiz in the 4x400m to take fourth in 3:49.10.

Both of the girls relay teams saw great performances. Dunkirk’s 2x1500m girls relay team saw a spectacular performance from Jericha Petrella, who provided a new Dunkirk school record time of 5:16.57. Dunkirk’s Sierra Jacques finished 12th in the race, helping combine for a third place finish. Emily Brown of Fredonia saw the best time in the 2×1500, breaking her own school record in a time of 4:53.61.

“The kids raced well today — Emily Brown had a great day in the 1500, breaking her own record and running all alone for the entire race,” said Fredonia coach Tom Stokes.

For the Marauders in the double one-lap relay — in which each member runs a 200m, hands off, gets back in line and runs a second — Paola Rodriguez, Decker, Katie Castiglia, and Chloe Vecchio took seventh. While the boys team of Jonah Rosas, Matt Hanlon, Felix Gonzalez and Jesus Cuevas ran a 3:50.62, which is also a new Dunkirk school record.

The Lady Marauders’ 4x400m team of Petrella, Kylie Procknal, Jacques, and Juliana Flick took second in 4:20.45.

In the field events, the Hillbillies saw great success in the pole vault relay, as the team of Hessen Bahgatt and Zach Dawley placed first, vaulting 12-feet and 8-feet, respectively. Dawley’s vault was a personal best. Dunkirk’s Emma Romanik took the fifth place spot in the pole vault, clearing a new season-best height of 7-feet. The Hillbillies high jump relay of Baghatt and Andrew Camp took fifth with a combined height of 5-feet-6-inches. Their shot put relay team of Zach Dawley and Kyle Mikula took third with combined throws of 65-feet-1-inch. Dawley’s throw of 35-feet-8-inches was a second personal record for him on the day. The Lady Marauders shot team of Sophia Stalcia who took sixth and Alina Beadle, who took tenth combined for a third place finish.

“I was happy with the way the day turned out,” said Dunkirk/Silver Creek coach Adam Woelfle. “It was a different meet with some different distances and races involved, but it’s a meet the kids enjoy, getting to switch it up a bit.”

The Dunkirk/Silver Creek indoor track team will be back in action next Saturday, again at Houghton.